Grown
by Himguy
Summary: In the ruins of North America, life is different from the ones we know of today. Death, starvation, disease, and military dominance are everyday occurrences. Life is hard for everyone living in the quarantine zones, and harder still for those outside, but even a child, with enough conviction, can overcome all obstacles put in their way. This is the story of Blaine, a Survivor.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTE: My first actual fanfic. I've written stories before, but nothing based on someone else's work. I feel I make a capable author but constructive criticism is welcome. I may need to reformat some things by the way. So far I plan on taking this story further, but it may be a while since this was written on the fly, and I need time to think of something that resembles a plot. Read and Enjoy, or Read and don't enjoy, which ever you like.**

**I own absolutely nothing in regards to The Last of Us.**

* * *

**Chapter One.**

"Expired... But not too long, and still sealed, should be good for now." the voice of an older adolescent rang through the emptied pharmacy which had been previously ransacked of most of its more valuable goods. grime and dirt settled on the floor, while the shelves had a coating of dust that required an industrial sander to clean. "Here Jessie, stash this stuff in your bag" his voice barely muffled underneath the grimy and torn red scarf that covered most of his face.

His accomplice peered out from the long desiccated cooler he was digging through to catch the bottles of cough syrup his friend was tossing at him. "Are you sure it's okay to take expired medicine, Blaine?" he asked as he pulled down his own scarf to better examine the last bottle that was tossed to him, he slid the hiking bag back onto his shoulders and pulled back his hood to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"I dunno, do you feel sick right now?" The older teen asked. Going over the bottles that lined the shelves of the pharmacy for any more medical supplies, slowly dragging his fingers over the labels as he mouthed the words.

"What? No, I feel alright. Why?" Jessie shouted back with an eyebrow raised.

"We'll then now you know it's safe. Those painkillers I gave you were about 5 years past expiration." He said with a small laugh, abandoning the shelves that were full of now useless medicine.

"Fuck you." was Jessie's only reply.

They did one more round through the drugstore before deciding there was nothing else worth salvaging, save for the occasional canned good, which were always in high demand in their camp.

"It's getting pretty late, you think we would be safer taking the buildings?" Jessie asked Blaine as they exited the drugstore while he looked around to make sure the area was clear of any infected.

"Better safe than sorry." Blaine replied as he ran across the street towards the adjacent skyscraper and began shimmying up a pipe bolted to the wall before climbing into a large shattered window on the second floor. Jessie followed suit, easily following Blaine's gymnastics, though not as graceful.

The two teens walked, snuck, and occasionally sprinted from various infected and other dangers that riddled the maze of fallen buildings and rooftops, which was still safer than the dangers on the ground, which was a deadly place at night since all the dangers were even more hidden under the cloak of the dark.

They found a place to take it slow in an abandoned office building. Blaine thought the place must have been important at some point before the world went to shit, he could recall seeing the buildings insignia and name in the newspapers that riddled the streets, and from what he could remember, it was not very good legs sore from the all day hike to get into the city to find supplies for the camp, the two teens decided to stop and rest for a while. Feeling as safe as they could on the 5th floor of the building, It was well known that the only people to enter the city were either desperate, insane, or one of the Hunters that killed people to steal their supplies, adding on to the limitless dangers. They sat down at the edge of a window in a nearly empty office building, allowing their legs to hang over the edge, a fear of heights not being something they were allowed to have.

"Are you sure we're gonna have enough supplies to make it through the week?" Jessie asked, while gazing out the window as the last of the blood red horizon transitioned into the haunting black of night.

"Well, Craig said we only needed a couple of more bottles of cough syrup, since we were running low. All the other stuff was more of a bonus" Blaine replied as he recalled what the large older male had said to him earlier. The camp had no definite leader, but everyone agreed that Craig knew what was best. He was sort of a surrogate father for Blaine and Jessie, so each listened to his orders without question. Blaine could remember how he had first met Craig. He and Jessie had both ran away from the military boarding school they had lived in, but didn't get far before they were caught by a group of bandits hoping to hold the two boys ransom. When they got no reply, the bandits had decided it best to just kill them both. the two boys were both looking down the barrel of a gun but before their killers could pull the trigger, one of the other bandits showed up and shot their would-be murderers in the back. That day Craig had given up on his life as a bandit and convinced some others to follow him, he took both Blaine and Jessie under his wing and taught them how to survive, and even to kill when needed.

The two friend sat and talked about all that had happened in the past week, from one of the women giving birth to a baby girl, to the deer that Jessie had caught on his own two days ago. As the sun set and the various streetlights and flood lights that still worked in the city came to life, Blaine and Jessie decided it was best to hurry up and get back home before their friends and family started worrying. They stood up and navigated the rest of the hallways and offices until they came to an open window. With a running start they leaped out the ten story window, only to land on the roof at a skyscraper leaning precariously on the first. They exited the roof and once again had to sneak past the rouge infected that dotted and wandered the many corridors of the tilted building.  
Blaine and Jessie learned early in their adventures that the runners were easy to outmaneuver and lost interest quickly in an escaped prey, it was the Clickers that posed a greater problem, since it's echolocation abilities meant it always knew where its prey was and would chase until it was either dead, or their victim was completely out of reach. Blaine was always the one to take out an infected they couldn't sneak around, since Jessie was only a little over 15 with very little combat experience. Even so, Blaine preferred to avoid killing anything unless necessary. He knew that the people whose bodies that were home to the deadly fungus were no longer the same, but their shrieks and groans as he strangled, stabbed, and bludgeoned them were still human, and always left him with an uneasy stomach. None of this stopped Blaine from making sure he was well armed, he always kept a bow and rifle on his back, and in case of emergencies he made sure he always had his lucky .44 magnum in his bag, lucky on account of him never actually needing to fire it, most hunters they ran into were armed with bats and planks, and the sight of the colossal revolver made them drop their weapons instantly.

They walked down the final hallway before getting to the bottom floor when something out the window caught Blaine's attention. He looked out and his eyes widened. He grabbed Jessie's shoulder and tugged both of them to the ground to hide from what was out the window.

"What the hell!?" Jessie yelped out, but didn't receive an answer, instead he got a hand over his mouth and Blaine's piercing eyes, his way of telling Jessie to shut up. Blaine removed his hand and shushed Jessie as he pointed towards the window above them. Jessie slowly peered up and caught a glimpse of something that justified Blaine's attack on him. Outside they saw about 9 hunters each armed with a rifle, and a couple with fire bottles dangling from their belt. Blaine and Jessie crept away under the window, but a conversation among the hunters caught his attention so he listened as best as he could.

"...Yeah, two tourists. Some old psychopath and a little girl." One of the Hunters nearly shouted.

"No fucking way. You're telling me that an old geezer, and a little brat were able to kill more than a dozen of our guys? There's no way they could have done that, are you sure there's not more of them?" Another hunter chimed in.

"I know for a fact, Rick came running into the warehouse going on about how the old guy took one of our own and used him as a shield as he blew out the others brains, and from what I hear the kid ain't no greenhorn when it comes to a rifle..." Blaine listened as the hunters voices faded into the distance. Blaine stood up slowly to make sure the hunters were gone. Once he was certain he motioned for Jessie to get moving so they could get the hell out of there.

"Do you think those two tourists are dangerous?" Jessie asked somewhat worried that two people could take out that many hunters.

"They're obviously dangerous, what's important is whether or not they're dangerous to us" Blaine said matter-of-factly not sure they should feel safe that there is a distraction for the hunters, or even more afraid that there are even more capable killers in the city.

They took the final staircase and found themselves in the lobby of the building which they had by now, figured was a luxury hotel. They felt that they were in the clear until they heard the telltale vocal clicks of a Clicker. The two boys glanced around quickly and dove behind the main desk before it entered the building and discovered their location. The Clicker stumbled into the entrance but stayed around the exit, blocking off any chance of getting out.

"W-what do we do?" Jessie whispered frantically, glancing up every couple of seconds to make sure the Clicker hasn't pinpointed their location yet.

"Just give me a second" Blaine retorted, staring off in the distance indicating he was trying to come up with something that resembled a plan.  
The harder he concentrated, the more his burrows frowed. When something came to mind he glanced around the room and made sure to finalize his idea.

"There's too much glass on the floor so we can't sneak out, I'm gonna distract it and get it to chase me, you just run back to the camp, I'll catch up later" Blaine said getting ready to get the clickers attention, trying to give Jessie no time to object.

"Wait! I'm not gonna leave you, what if that thing kills you?" Jessie asked frantically, holding Blaine by his arm.

"It won't, I'll find another way out of the building, you need to get that supplies back to the camp." Blaine said as he shook his arm out of Jessie's grip.

"I'm gonna get his attention, when he starts chasing me, run out the door and don't stop until you get to the camp." Blaine continued, he looked Jessie in the eyes with determination to show that he was serious. Jessie gave a reluctant nod, and with no hesitation Blaine stood up and began shouting at the clicker to get its attention.

The Clicker reacted almost instantly and charged Blaine, flailing its arms trying to hit anything that was in its reach, Blaine turned on his heel and ran back through the building, making sure to make extra noise to keep the infected juggernaut on his tail. When the Clicker was out of sight Jessie made a mad dash to the door before stopping to look back, showing great concern for his best friend, but he knew that Blaine would be pissed if he failed to make it back to the camp. Jessie stifled his concerns and continued on to the camp.

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid. What the hell was I thinking" Blaine muttered to himself as he was running away from the Clicker that was closing in on him fast.

He did a quick turn into an open room, almost slipping on the broken glass that seemed to line all the hallways. A quick glance around the office revealed a large hole in the ceiling. With fluidity only capable of someone close to death he jumped up and grabbed the ledge, swung his leg over, and rolled onto the upper floor. Standing up to dust himself off he stood for a second, staring down at the Clicker trying to climb up the ceiling just as he did, but to no avail. He let his body relax as the Clicker gave up and went back to searching for prey and left his field of vision.  
It wasn't until he turned around that he realized that he was not completely in the clear. The room was full of newly infected runners, they were easy to sneak by, since they did nothing more than stand around with their heads hanging, still Blaine took caution as any infected posed a great danger. He took a deep breath and exhaled before kneeling down. He crept, and weaved between the still bodies trying to make as little noise as possible, every creak of the floor made Blaine's heart jolt, and his breath hitch.  
The runners stayed in place except for the occasional twitch of their muscles, which always made Blaine jump. He was within 3 feet of the door when a slight misstep and some well placed dust caused his foot to slip on the floor out from under him and Kick the desk to his left. The desk slid with a loud shriek as the metal grind against the floor and the rubble on top came tumbling down with rapid succession. Blaine didn't look back to check to see if the horde was alerted, he stood up and dashed as fast as he could out the room, a smart move because as soon as he turned right down the hall, the swarm of infected was right behind him. The growls and howls of the runners grew further and further, but with no way to hide from them all Blaine could do was keep running. All the hallways seemed to be straightaways with doors on each side, but every door Blaine zipped by seemed to either be completely buried under a pile of debris or held shut with the military containment locks. Blaine was approaching the end of the hallway fast, and not one of the doors seemed usable.  
Blaine thought about jumping out the window at the end of the hall, but he had to have been on the third floor and with no idea of what was on the other side, it was a stupid idea. Just when it seemed like a dead end, a final door on the right was actually unlocked and clear, but Blaine would have to think of a plan fast once he got in...

* * *

"C'mon, give me your hand." a deep voice with a slight southern twang called out, " we need to hurry before it gets too late" he said, kneeling out the window to help his partner climb up.

"Yeah, yeah I hear ya" the voice of a younger girl returned with annoyance lining her tone. She grunted as she jumped up to gab the older man's hand, and with relative ease he hoisted her up. From the awning she was standing on.

Joel and Ellie examined the room for any obvious dangers but only found a couple of destroyed desks and fallen file cabinets, the room barely illuminated seemed eerie, and the groans of Runners could be heard from all directions, but somehow seemed to far to actually determine where. They began rummaging through the various drawers and cabinets, Joel looking for anything to patch up his bruises and bloody arm, and Ellie aimlessly searching for something that she thought was interesting. After a couple of minutes an nothing valuable found, Joel let out a sigh.

"We'll, let's head on out. We need to find that dam, and the night is getting darker by the minute."

"Why does Tommy always send us on these stupid jobs?" Ellie replied, she had found a spot to sit on a desk and let her legs dangle, relishing in the short moment of rest.

"Your answer is as good as mine" Joel let out, talking more to himself than Ellie. It had been 2 whole years since the incident with the fireflies at the hospital, and with Ellie still in the dark about what happened, every day Joel feared that she would find out and hate him for it. After the incident no news on the fireflies was heard, leaving Joel to believe that he had singlehandedly destroyed most of their militia. Ellie did not want to believe the story Joel told her about the fireflies no longer searching for a cure, but when no fireflies were heard of or seen, she had no choice but to believe. Over the past 2 years their bond had only gotten stronger, though they wouldn't say it out loud, it was obvious they cared for each other, Ellie came to think of Joel as a father, and Joel thought of her as a daughter, and if it were up to him, she would stay back whenever they went on their various odd jobs, but Ellie had shown that she was more than capable of watching out for herself, and had many times saved Joel's life.

"How do we even know the people maintaining the dam are even friendly?" Ellie asked as she pulled out her signature switchblade to clean some grime from under her fingernails "for all we know, it could be run by a group of bandits."

Joel knew she had a point, but still, they had to try. Without any new parts, the dam wouldn't last their little community they called home much longer.

"I guess we're just gonna have to hope the world hasn't gone completely to shit" Joel's words were enough to lighten Ellie's mood, at least enough to keep pushing forward.

"Well, let's get on with it" Ellie said with very little enthusiasm as she hopped off the desk. Before she started heading to the door she felt Joel's grip on her arm.

"What th-" but she was cut off by Joel quickly shushing her, she listened. At first she didn't hear it, but the loud footsteps drew closer and closer. She and Joel both hid behind a desk, waiting to see where the footsteps would end up, and whether or not it was worth using the last of their ammunition to fight.

* * *

Blaine finally made it to the door, and without stopping barged the door with his shoulder, it flew open with an ear ringing bang, and fell off one of the hinges, Blaine surveyed the room with desperation until he saw the large open window on the other side of the room, he ran directly towards the window planning to vault over the desk in his path, but before he could find out what to do next, he felt a brick shatter over his mouth, surprised and shocked he doubled over and fell to the ground. He sat up and quickly crawled backwards until he sat against the wall and finally took a look at his assailants. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he saw before him a man who couldn't be much older than 40, and a smaller teenage girl. He didn't question it further as he tried to pull out his lucky magnum to make a stand against the coming horde.

"Joel!" Ellie shouted out. "He's got a gun!"

Blaine looked back at the man, and saw him swiftly pull out a 9mm out his belt and aim it at his face.

"Wait! Wait!" Blaine threw his hands up and dropped his gun at his side. "I don't want to fight you!" Blaine shouted, he hoped the man wasn't a cold blooded killer and listened to his pleas.

"Oh yeah? Then why the fuck did you barge in here and charge at us with a gun?" Blaine heard the younger female yell out, with her own gun now pointed at his head.

Blaine opened his mouth to explain, but the sound of footsteps resonated through the room and rattled the floor, he pointed to the door "Is that a good reason?!"

On cue the infected began pouring into the room, but the doorway was enough to bottleneck them, so that they were easy targets for Joel and Ellie. Both of them were easily holding them back, the infected falling over from bullet wounds to the skull, occasionally needing a little more incentive to finally die, but soon, the runners began overflowing, and they were getting closer and closer before they would be put down. The pair thought they were going to have to make a run for it. It wasn't until the large booming of Blaine's magnum that the infected started falling two or three at a time, with destroyed limbs or torsos. With the mix of gunshots, shrieks of the dying runners, and the growls of the ones still living, the noise was enough to catch the attention of anyone within the city block. The flood of runners had stopped, all three of the survivors standing on edge in anticipation of another attack. When no other infected showed, they all relaxed, all except for Blaine who caught a swift blow to the cheek and was yanked up to his feet and held up against the wall by his throat.

"Who the hell are you, and why shouldn't I put a bullet in your skull right now!?" Joel screamed into the kids face "You almost got us all killed!"

"L-look man, I'm just trying to get back to my camp" Blaine managed to choke out, his fear obvious in his voice.

Joel ripped the scarf from his mouth and saw the face of a boy who couldn't be much older than Ellie.

"So your not a bandit then." Joel released his grip from the boys neck. Blaine fell down to his knees and coughed and gasped for air. When he had a sufficient amount of air in his lungs, he spoke up.

"No, no. I'm just a survivor, and you're welcome for also SAVING us all." Blaine rubbed his neck trying to soothe the bruise that formed. He paused with a realization. "You... You two wouldn't happen to be the ones laying waste to all the hunters are you?"

Joel glanced at Ellie who had a look of concern. He looked back at Blaine. "So we were making that much noise, huh? Joel reached down and offered a hand to Blaine.

"Oh yeah. But I guess I should be giving thanks, while they were out searching for you, my friend was able I get out of the city and back to the camp." Blaine explained as he reached out for Joel's hand, who helped the boy to his feet.

"So, what are you guys here anyway?" Blaine spoke up, after a couple of seconds of silence.

Ellie spoke up first "We're supposed to find out who runs the dam, and if we-"

"Ellie!" Joel cut her off, burning holes through her skull with his gaze. After all their experiences, Joel still felt that she got comfortable around strangers to fast, and actually meeting someone her own age made it even worse.

"Ha! Well good luck with that. The military took control of that dam a long time ago, and I doubt they'll want anything to do with two random survivors" Blaine butted in, as he readjusted his scarf and put it back on his face. "What did you need from them anyways?"

"It doesn't matter, because now our entire journey here was for nothing" Joel said defeated, as he leaned against the wall and slid down until he was sitting. Thinking of what to do next, he rested his eyes as he massaged his temples. Ellie was doing no better, as she too had lost all her motivation as she sat on a desk, slumped over with her head hanging low.

"Well... I'd hate to have you guys go back for nothing. So... How about I show you guys to our camp, It's just outside the city" Blaine said, feeling a little bit of pity for the two survivors, he knew well what it felt like to do an important task for nothing.  
"I'm sure you two could use some food and rest." he explained as he slowly reloaded the cylinder of his magnum.

Joel was cautious, trusting a complete stranger was an easy way to get killed, but Blaine would have to be the youngest Hunter he had seen, if he was one. He also couldn't deny that without Blaine's help they would all have been sitting in the belly of about 15 runners right now.

"Alright, we'll go to this camp of your's" Joel answered, but held up a finger to show he wasn't finishd  
"But try anything stupid, and I won't think twice about putting a bullet in your spine"

Blaine gave a nervous laugh, and a simple 'Don't worry' before explaining the rout they would have to take, and the various 'secret' paths that he knew of. They hopped back down onto the awning that Joel and Ellie had just entered from, and climbed back to street level as Blaine lead them towards the edge of the city.

Ellie ran up to match Blaine's pace "Sorry... about the brick, I thought you were... y'know, attacking us" she apologized, not something she was used to doing sincerely. Most people she attacked had deserved it to begin with.  
"Don't worry about it, if I held a grudge against every one that gave me a split lip, I wouldn't have very many friends" Blaine joked, earning a small giggle from the girl that walked next to him as they fell into casual conversation.

Joel stayed back a few paces to cover their rear, he wasn't sure if he liked the idea of the boy Ellie was talking to was around her age. Still, he thought it was healthy of her to actually meet someone who might have some idea of what she was going through, being a teenager in a world that was hard on even the most calloused adult. He was remembering what it was like to be an overbearing father again.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the long Hiatus, wring in this setting is not exactly my specialty, and recent events kept putting me off from writing. I'm trying to get back on track, but my motivation is something that changes frequently. Unfortunately all I have to offer as of yet is an updated Chapter 2 with what I hope are improvements. don't forget to Review, your input helps me in many ways.**

**The Last of Us still doesn't belong to me.**

* * *

CHAPTER TWO

The walk to the edge of the city couldn't have been easier. Little to no infected, and not one hunter was in sight. Strange considering how many were after Joel and Ellie to begin with. None of that kept Joel from being on edge, he kept his rifle in hand, no matter how much Blaine explained that no hunter ever came near edge of the forest. Joel knew all too well how unpredictable the still living were. The infected were stupid, and easy to avoid, in fact Joel would say that he feared the people more than the infected.

The black of night made the forest a little more difficult to traverse, and the ambiance of it had more of a creepy feel than a dangerous one. Blaine told Ellie about all the game there was to hunt in the forest, some of which were not native to the area, and had escaped from the various zoo's that dotted the country. Ellie payed attention with the curiosity of a small child as she listened to Blaine explain the wildlife and flora of the area. She had experienced the exotic animals that now populated the ruined continent, but seeing how much the animals varied over a small area surprised her. She knew how to hunt deer and other small game animals, but hearing Blaine explain how to kill and cook the crocodiles that congregated near the flooded city and sewage drains interested her.

Joel, who was still hanging back, eyed the two teenagers as they walked and conversed. From what he could tell so far, Blaine didn't seem much different from Ellie, in his mannerisms at least. Both joked and found ways to keep their spirits up in the unforgiving ruins of america, and managed to keep their youthful personalities in the face of danger. The only thing that set Blaine's personality apart from Ellie's, was his almost military knowledge of the landscape, and his seriousness when it came to getting jobs done. Joel laughed to himself, the boy reminded him of himself in his younger years, of course Joel didn't have to fight to survive on a daily basis.

After what seemed like hours, the group came to a clearing in the woods, and found a large makeshift fence made of random sheets of metal and timber. Next to the front gate was a tall tower with the glow of fire illuminating the small area surrounding it.

"Well, here we are. Working plumbing, some buildings with electricity, and a population of around 40 people. What more could you ask for." Blaine explained with a hint of gloating. "Geoff! Open the gate!" He shouted up towards the sniper tower that sat next to the gate

After a couple of seconds an older man peered over the edge of the tower. "Name, and time of departure?" Geoff yelled back down.  
"Blaine, departure at eleven a.m." Blaine shouted in return, the man went back behind a ledge for a couple more seconds before appearing again. "You and your friend left together, why are you returning separately?" he shouted back down, giving Blaine an eye of suspicion.

"We ran into some complications. Look, are you gonna open the gate or not?" Blaine letting his annoyance seep into his tone, the man gave a sharp glare to the young man and his group, then he let out a sigh and returning to his post to open the gate.

The large gate made of sheet metal and wrapped in barbed wire began to rise.  
"Make sure to tell Craig about your two friends when you get in." were Geoff's final words, said in a voice that was glad to be done with the confrontation, he sat back into his chair, kicked his feet up, and pulled out the book he seemed more interested in than doing his job.

The inside the gate was a sharp contrast against the bleak forest they had just exited. The hold was full of various campfires, and people sitting around chatting about their days, surrounded by group lodging cabins, due to the fact that the camp was erected on an actual campground. The children had all gone to sleep by now, but the working men still savored the last of the day by drinking and sharing stories before going off to bed themselves.

"Quite a place you've got here" Ellie said, observing every inch of her surroundings, taking in all the details of the camp that had a more simple feel than their own home. Before Blaine could thank her, she cut him off "But ours still has more people, and it even has it's own little town," It was true that her's and Joel's own community was larger and more industrious, with men and women working throughout the day to keep the dam running, but she enjoyed the homey, and rustic feel of the camp. It reminded her of the simple people that existed even before there was electricity she read about from the old history books she stumbled upon at Tommy's homestead.

Blaine laughed "Well, I'm sure there's no need to compare our sizes" he jested. "But I think everyone here is happy with the way we live, except of course from the rare bandit raids"  
Blaine said as he peeled of the scarf from his face, and removed the hood from his head. His shaggy black hair stuck to his forehead, and he had a slight tan from wearing the scarf over his mouth and nose all day. There was no denying his youth, that's for sure. His thick eyebrows and black hair contrasted well against his slightly darkened skin. Finally seeing his face completely for the first time caught Ellie off guard, she had asked him about the scarf before, but he said he preferred to keep it on. She thought it was to hide some hideous scar that he was ashamed of, but as far as Ellie was concerned, that face was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Well, I better show you guys to Craig, the appointed leader of our camp. I'm sure he'll be fine with visitors, but it still helps to get the okay." Blaine then went on to lead them to Craigs cabin, when Jessie ran up behind them, out of breath from running.

"Oh thank god, I thought you got killed out there" Jessie let out a relieved sigh, as he leaned on his friend's shoulder, trying to catch his breath from running.  
"I told you I wouldn't die." Blaine stated with a sense of grandeur. "And not only did I save myself, I also managed to save these two survivors" Blaine joked, Joel let out a small "hmph", as close to a laugh Blaine will get.  
"Oh, uhh... Hi, welcome... to our camp.. I mean." Jessie stuttered out as he greeted Joel and Ellie, who both returned the formalities. Jessie was never good with meeting new people, and it was apparent to everyone when he started to nervously stutter, if not for Blaine, Jessie would have a hard time befriending anyone. Before Jessie could make himself look more stupid, he ran off to do some "errands that had just come up".

"Don't mind him, he's just shy." Blaine said about the boy who had gotten away as fast as he could. Being 'shy' was something that was alien to Ellie, the girl couldn't understand how someone wouldn't be able to speak up for themselves, especially in the world they live in today. Some people are just different she thought and followed Blaine towards the leader's cabin.

The only thing that distinguished Craig's cabin from all the others in the hold, was the fact that his was much smaller. Most likely due to the fact that he got to have a place for himself, Joel thought, the same reason why Tommy's room back at their own camp was the largest in the entire community. Blaine approached the door, and gave it 3 solid raps.

"Craig! It's Blaine!" he shouted through the door, waiting for a response.  
"Ah! Blaine, what took you so long!" all three heard the loud heavy footstep as the man approached the door. "Jessie came back with the medicine but I was still-" as the door opened Craig stopped his self as he laid eyes on the two strangers that stood behind Blaine.  
"I see you brought company."

Craig was a man who dwarfed Ellie and Blaine in comparison, and was still a head taller than Joel. Saying that the massive, bald man was intimidating was an understatement, and the many scars that littered his olive toned face and neck only increased the effect. While his demeanor was enough to send even a bear running towards the hills, with eyes that always seemed to hold ire, and a mouth stuck in a permanent frown, his baritone voice was that of a jolly uncle. He reached out his large hands to greet Joel and Ellie.

Blaine was the first to speak up. "Me and Jessie ran into some problems on our way back, so I had to take a couple detours, and on the way, I ran into some trouble. These two here helped me out a little, so I decided that I should help them out." Craig listened to his explanation, glancing back and forth at the grizzled man, and the younger girl. Satisfied with Blaine's reasoning, he motioned for Joel to come into his cabin.

"Come, come in, let me get you something to drink, and you can explain to me what seems to be the problem." Craig offered Joel, as he turned to Blaine. "Why don't you show missy to the guest beds, let them see some use for once, eh?" Craig shooed off Blaine and Ellie with a laugh, guests were always something that Craig enjoyed, and with the bandits slowly making the city more dangerous than ever, travelers were becoming even more of a rarity.

Blaine and Ellie headed back towards the main hub of cabins, striking up conversation here and there. Ellie had friends back at Tommy's camp, but they were all either twice her age, or not yet in their teens. and having someone who was around the same age as her made her feel at least a little bit more comfortable. Not that she wasn't comfortable discussing certain things with Joel, and there certainly wasn't anything she'd tell Blaine that she wouldn't tell Joel, but having another teenager to talk to, and someone who understood her personality, made her life feel at least a tiny bit more normal.  
Blaine didn't have the same problems Ellie had faced, growing up with Jessie had always given him someone to confide in. Still, Ellie had been the first female his age he had met. Even though their lives made them act more grown than their ages showed, Blaine was still a 17 year old boy, so no one could blame him for they way he thought of Ellie, the only girl he had ever had contact with. Her hair was tangled in areas, and her face had several small scars with one very noticeable scar going through her brow, but none of this mattered to Blaine, what he saw was a brash, loud girl who could probably kill him with her bare hands, and he wouldn't change a thing about her, lastly Blaine would be damned if her eyes weren't the brightest green he'd ever seen.

He shook these feelings, as this was no time to be a hormone driven teenager, and did his best to hide his interest in the girl. "So, the cabin with the guest beds are over there" Blaine said as he pointed to the cabin which seemed to be a little bit larger than the more conventional cabins that sat in the ring. "There's about 3 other people staying in the cabin, so I hope you don't mind company."

"With the way our sleeping conditions were on the road, I'm sure I can handle someone snoring." Ellie joked. Blaine gave a half laugh, and they parted ways

Blaine turned, realizing he forgot something. "Oh yeah, if you feel like you need a shower, they're right up that path" he said as he pointed towards a dirt path that went into the thicker part of the forest. "There's no electricity, but the plumbing works fine, and besides, I think a cold shower does everyone a little good."

"Thanks." was all Ellie said, as she flashed him a final smile, that made Blaine's chest hurt, but in a good way. He turned away and caught the breath that he forgot. The walk back to his bed was a long one with the image of Ellie's smile burned into his mind, he was glad to be done with the experience before he could make himself look stupid. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought of the girl, but the effort was only making things worse. He sighed and continued in silence, both in his mind and outside.

"So your plans don't seem to be falling into place as you hoped, eh?" Craig spoke up, taking a sip from his lukewarm tea  
"but I'm afraid that there's nothing me or my people can do. We've tried bargaining with the people running the dam, but they want nothing to do with outsiders." he leaned back in his chair, resting his eyes as he contemplated.

"Yeah, we've never had much luck with the military either." Joel said somberly, his head resting on his hand, with his elbow on the table. His own tea still full, but now cold.

"Seems to me like they're trying more to keep themselves safe and fed, instead of keeping order where it's needed." Joel nodded in agreement at Craig's words, he knew that even inside the quarantine zones was hectic, all someone had to do was look at all the abandoned zones to see that the military was lacking some much needed strength.

"And from what I hear, the Fireflies aren't doing much better" Craig's mention of the Fireflies caught Joel off guard. Any mention of the Fireflies always put him on edge. "No one's heard from them in about 2 years." Craig continued.  
"Is that so?" was Joel's only response, as he downed his cold tea in a single go.

"but it's all the same, when groups fight for power, the people suffer." The larger male said as he stood up from his seat and stretched, he walked to the pot that sat on the burner, keeping it hot. He poured more of the boiling water in his cup, getting the most use out of the tea bag that sat in the mug. Joel sat still going over the words Craig had just said, taking note of the truth that ran through them.

Joel enjoyed the feel of Craig's little town he had going, though there was electricity in only certain spots, they made due, and from the outside, appeared to even thrived. The people were friendly enough, but he was sure that they had no problem dealing with an overzealous bandit or infected, but what the village lacked was any teenagers other than Blaine and his friend.

"What's the deal with those two boys anyways?" Joel asked, fact that Blaine was around Ellie's age, but scavenging and hunting on his own.

"Ah, Blaine and Jessie? They're like sons to me, I've had them since there were little ankle biters" Craig boasted out as he reminisced in the days of the two teens childhood. "The got caught up with the bandits, and were almost killed. If not for me, they would have been two unknown bodies laying out in the city."

Joel listened to Craig go on about how he taught the two boys everything they knew about surviving. How Blaine was a natural with a bow, and how Jessie had almost blown of either of their heads more times than he could count. The two men chatted for another hour, laughing about all the troubles each of their teenage companions had caused them. Joel could see that Blaine was lucky to have a father figure to teach him about the world from an early age, the teens who grew up in the world probably adjusted better than the adults who had the world plunged onto them 20 years ago.

Several more minutes had passed before Joel decided he should get some sleep. Craig told Joel where to find the guest beds, they exchanged goodbyes and Joel was off. The similarities between Joel and Craig were obvious to himself, and he found he had a certain respect for the man who had more fatherly motives just as Joel himself did.

Sleep didn't come easy for Blaine, Ellie's eyes stayed on his mind more than he would admit, but after several minutes of turning, and trying to think of something else, Blaine managed to find sleep.

"... subject... readings normal... procede...tests" was all blaine could make out from the muffled talking, thought it was happening right in front of him, his ears were ringing strongly blocking out almost all sound.  
He slowly opened his eyes. the bright light that was shining directly at his face blinded him, he winced in pain as his eyes squinted shut, but when his eyes adjusted he still found that his vision was severely blurry. All he could make out were two figures dressed in grimey suits, with masks on passing rusted and damaged tools back and forth over his body, and the run down, destroyed room that contained him.

"... inhalation... begin" one of the men said in a dull voice, almost robotic in expression.

Blaine turned to the other man, but saw a mask being lowered onto his face, he tried to resist but his arms were strapped to the table, and every movement seemed to drain him completely of energy. He held his breath as the mask was held over his mouth and nose, he saw the grey gas being pumped into the mask, but he couldn't hold his breath forever. The first gasp he took, singed his throat, and his lungs felt like they were filled with hot steam. He hacked and coughed as he thrashed about, but the mask wouldn't budge. Eventually all Blaine could do was lay still and breathe the horrid gas that still burned his lungs.  
After what was an eternity as far as Blaine was concerned the mask was removed, and he was able to breathe fresh air again. Unfortunately this only gave him slight relief from the pain in his esophagus.

"proceed with bite test" Blaine was able to hear the man speak perfectly. At the word bite, his heart stopped, he knew what was going to happen. In the blink of an eye he was now in a room with a large sheet of glass in front of him, inside he saw more of the masked men in torn and stained suits, all observing him, as he was strapped to a now inclined bed, with arms outstretched.

"Bring in the infected" one man behind the glass called out through the intercom. Through the door to the right, blaine heard growls getting more and more extreme, until the door opened slowly and through the door walked 4 more men in the suits, surrounding an infected runner restrained by the torso and neck by a constraint hooked up to long poles, to keep the suited men at a distance. The runner shook and jerked in all directions trying to escape, but was still being slowly led towards blaine. A fifth man rolled up the sleeve of the brown shirt Blaine found himself in. The runner inched closer and closer to Blaine's bare arm, it's jaw opening and slamming shut with force that would no doubt break his skin, if not more. Blaine tried to squirm free, but it was no use, the runner was inching closer to his arm. He tried to look away, to hopelessly avoid the pain that would surely be more than he could handle, he looked back towards the window, and still saw the men in their nearly destroyed suits, but now he also saw Craig, Jessie, and Ellie, all staring back at him with expressionless faces, before Blaine could make out what was going on, the runner latched onto his arm with it's deadly jaws, the pain shot through his entire body instantly, his entire body went stiff with shock. His vision began to fade to black, feeling lethargic he was able to make out one of the men speaking.

"Test complete, move on" before his mind finally faded.

Blaine opened his eyes, his heart still beating rapidly, and his forehead glistening with sweat. He sat up slowly and glanced at the window, the first signs of blue filling the sky, he got up and began to face the day.

He slid on his favorite hoodie, wrapped the sleeves with fabric at the forearms to keep them from being too baggy. He wrapped his neck with the red scarf, and pulled on the least dirty pair of cargo shorts. Finally slipping on the ratty sneakers he walked out the cabin, not before snatching up his bag that lay next to the door.  
the day had barely started, and already heared some small chatter among the people in the camp. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, still shaken from the nightmare. He walked towards the gate, greeting the few other people who had woken up in the hour. His steps were slow and heavy as he walked, trying to wipe the last bit of sleepiness from his eyes. His mornings were not usually as groggy as this one, but this was the first time in a long while that he had that damned nightmare again.  
He got to the gate, and leaned against the fence, looking up to the sky every so often, trying to gauge the whether for the next couple of hours. He looked back towards the circle of cabins, when he saw Joel and Ellie exit their cabin. He couldn't tell what they were saying to each other, but Joel gave a final sentence and headed towards the path that led to Craigs cabin. Ellie stayed, not knowing what to do, she gazed around the campsite, trying to find something that would keep her busy, when she spotted Blaine leaning against the fence. She at least knew Blaine enough to talk to him, and he seemed to be waiting for something, so it couldn't hurt to strike up conversation.

Blaine saw Ellie approaching, he had hoped Jessie would show up before he would have to talk to her, but it looks like his luck was severely lacking for the day.

"Hey, you waiting for something?" Ellie asked as she approached Blaine, He kept his hood and scarf on, but still talked in a dull voice.

"Just waiting for Jessie, we're supposed to head out to hunt for the morning." Blaine answered, avoiding eye contact from the girl. He did his best to sound as awake as possible, he felt as though he had only seen a minute of sleep all last night.

"Do you guys go out every day?" She asked, she thought it was strange that the two boys would be out in the city most of the day, only to go back out in the morning to hunt.

"No, yesterday was more of a special job, we only go hunting about twice a week." Blaine replied as he rubbed his forehead, his lack of restful sleep left him with a slight headache, and having this much interaction with the girl who made him feel 'funny' was only making things worse.

"Oh... is it okay if I join?" Ellie's question caught him off guard, he was used to just him and Jessie, but the more he thought about it, with 3 people he might actually be able to get back quicker and catch up on some more sleep.

"Sure, I guess. We just have to wait for Jessie, which shouldn't be much longer." Blaine said as he leaned back against the fence and rested his eyes. She asked him various questions, like how long they were going to be out, what they were trying to bring back, whether or not they were using a rifle or bow. All of which Blaine answered as directly as possible, He was about to go find Jessie himself when the other teen finally showed.

"Sorry, I woke up late, and misplaced my bag." Jessie said sheepishly as he approached, he glanced at Ellie and was just as shocked as Blaine was.

"Are you going with us or something?" He asked, looking at Blaine to see if he would interject.  
"Yeah, if that's okay with you, I mean."  
Ellie spoke up, noticing Jessie looking towards Blaine for confirmation.  
"No, I'm fine with it. I just didn't think Blaine wou-" Jessie was abruptly stopped with a punch to the shoulder.  
"C'mon, we've already wasted enough time." Blaine said as he shouted up to whoever was working the gate today.  
The gate slowly opened, and the trio began to walk the forest. The tall trees and thick brush was a sight to behold this early in the morning. Random shafts of light shined through the branches and brush, lighting up the settled dew like glitter. And the Bright blue sky was even more glorious against the dark green of the overhanging trees. The cool air was a welcome relief from the usual harsh temperature of summer. Of course all of this only made Blaine even more sleepy.

The group climbed over rocks and logs, jumped over trenches, and crawled under fallen trees before Blaine stopped at the top of a hill. Jessie stood next to him and began digging through his bag. He pulled out a pair of binoculars as he examined the area at the bottom of a hill. Ellie approached and saw a large clearing sitting just downhill, she squinted and saw several deer, though they were extremely far away.

"Alright Jessie, spot for me." Without responding Jessie laid prone on the ground and pulled out a rangefinder that he kept in his bag. Blaine joined him, and shouldered his rifle, looking down the scope. Ellie was confused, she thought that they were going to take the shot a lot closer, at least that was how she was used to doing it.

"About... 220 meters." Jessie called out to Blaine, while still looking down his rangefinder.

"Alright, I'm going for the buck on the far left." Blaine said back, Jessie surveyed the area and focused on the target Blaine mentioned. Jessie and Blaine had practiced their hunting under Craig, and learned to work together to kill targets from quite a distance, this way they never needed to leave the immediate vicinity of the camp for longer than needed.

"Go for about 2 feet above the neck." Jessie directed his partner for the ideal shot. Blaine, set his rifle down, and leaned over to look at Ellie, who was waiting to see whether or not they were actually going to kill the buck.

"Why don't you take the shot?" Blaine said to Ellie. She looked back at him surprised, she didn't think they would be able to pull of the shot, and she knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to do it.  
"I'm not sure" She replied, her uncertainty showing through the tone of her voice, "I'm used to getting closer to my targets."

"It's not as hard as it seems." Blaine said as he stood up, motioning for the girl to take his spot. "Jessie pretty much does all the thinking and aiming. Just point to where he tells you, and pull the trigger"

The girl laid on the ground, and shouldered the rifle just as Blaine did. Still worried that she would miss the shot, she looked at Jessie, letting him know that she was ready. Jessie too felt doubt, now that it wasn't Blaine who was shooting. "Are you sure about this Blaine?" Jessie looked at his friend who was now leaning against a tree, with his eyes closed.

"What don't you trust, Your aiming, or hers?" Blaine replied to the boy, looking him the eyes, showing his seriousness.

"Well, neither. But-"

"Then take the shot." Jessie was cut off by Blaine. He took a breath and went back to his scope.

Ellie looked down the scope of her rifle, and saw the buck Blaine had mentioned earlier. While the scope did help with identifying the herd of deer, individually they still all looked too far to hit.

"So, the herd is 220 meters away, and the target we're trying to hit is on the far left." Jessie stated, he didn't know how much Ellie already knew, so he went over it again just to be sure.

"Got it" Ellie replied, keeping the crosshairs on the Buck.

"With this distance you're gonna want to aim about one foot above the neck." Jessie continued. He waited for confirmation from the girl but when he got none, he spoke up "You got it?"

"Well... I'm not exactly good at eyeballing the distance." She said, she had never had to aim above her targets, whether they were animal or human, she was always close enough for a solid direct shot.

"Alright, right under the center of the crosshair, there should be a second notch. Line up the shot so the Bucks neck is right in between the main cross, and the second notch." Jessie was instructing her, much like Blaine had when he first learned to shoot from long distances.

"Got it" Ellie gave confirmation as she listened to his directions attentively.

"When you're ready, just pull the trigger." Jessie replied, keeping his own scope on the deer.

Ellie took a deep breath, and exhaled as she slowly squeezed the trigger. she didn't want to move the rifle too much and let the two boys down by missing the shot.

The bang of the gunpowder rang through the forest, without flinching Jessie kept the deer in his sights, and just half a second after the gun's explosion. The buck fell without a single kick.

"You hit it." Jessie said to the girl, she was just as impressed with herself as Jessie was.

"I hit it?... I hit it!" She called out, she stood up and looked down at the field where the now dead buck laid. The distance still surprised her, but she was now confident in her abilities.

"Alright then. I'll go cut out the bulk of it, then we can get back to the camp." Blaine said as he went over the hunting knife that hung from his belt loop. He walked down the hill, as Jessie and Ellie stayed behind, he could hear Jessie congratulating her as he got further away.

He got to the edge of the clearing, and made his way to the fallen buck, still rubbing his face, trying to keep the sleepiness at bay, until a more appropriate time. He walked up to the deer, and saw the single bullet wound in its neck that had caused its death. Blaine knelt down and began skinning parts of the deer. after he drove the blade deep into the body of the buck, and began sawing away the choice pieces that contained the most meat. He rubbed each cut down with salt before stuffing it into a special pouch that he carried when they went hunting. He stood up, happy with his handiwork, and headed back towards Jessie and Ellie.

The walk up the hill was more taxing than going down, so he took it slower. The closer he got to their initial position, the more he heard talking, it was Ellie's voice. along with one he hadn't heard before. He slowed down and made his footsteps even lighter as he came to the edge of the hill.

"You're gonna pay for that you little bitch!" a deep and raspy voice shouted. Blaine saw the back of a man with a torn brown leather jacket pointing a gun at the girl. next to Ellie laid the body of a fallen bandit, with bloody hands still wrapped around his neck. Blaine spotted the bloody knife in Ellies grip, but he couldn't figure out where Jessie had went. He had his answer only seconds later.

"J-just calm down man, you guys attacked us first!" Blaine heard Jessie yell out, it wasn't until then that Blaine had found out that the still standing bandit had Jessie in his grasp, keeping him as a hostage against the girl who had killed his partner.

"Shut your mouth before you get yourself killed." the man shouted back as he placed the barrel of his pistol against Jessie's head.

Ellie inched forward, but the man quickly brought his aim back to the girl. "Stay the fuck back! I-I ain't afraid to kill both of you!" the man's voice was shaky and had hints of fear, he probably thought that two teenagers in the forest would be an easy pair to rob, but his dead partner was evidence of their mistake.

With the mans back facing him, Blaine slowly crept his way closer to the man. He reached for the bag on his back, to pull out his own gun, but felt nothing. he then saw his bag laying against the tree on the far side of the small scene that was happening. Blaine had to get closer, if he wanted to kill the man from behind. He gripped his knife, and quickened his pace while still being as quiet as possible. Ellie saw Blaine sneaking from behind, but gave no indication of his position to the man standing in front of her. Blaine was only feet away from the man, when a stray twig, gave away his position when stepped on.

The crunch alerted the man, he spun around as fast as he could, but the younger teen had already plunged his blade into the bandit's shoulder. Before the bandit could react, he felt a second knife pierce the skin on his back as Ellie had charged him with his back turned. A single gunshot was heard from his pistol. Blaine flinched for a second, only to remove the knife from the man's shoulder, and drive it several times into his neck and chest. Jessie had slipped from the man's grip, as Blaine fell on top of the man as he fell backwards, and continued to repeatedly stab the man, as his life slowly faded.

When he was sure the bandit was completely dead, Blaine crawled from his body,but stayed on all fours on the ground. Jessie's heart was pounding from the incident, and was still in shock from the the whole ordeal. He glanced down at the dead body of his attacker, and gave it a single kick to the torso. He knelt down and picked up the pistol that was held against his head, he removed the magazine to find no bullets were left, this would explain the bandits reluctance to shoot anyone, Jessie thought. Both Ellie and Jessie glanced at Blaine who was still on the ground, but before either could ask what was wrong, Blaine heaved up, and vomited what little contents were in his stomach.

Ellie and Jessie examined Blaine as he tried to stand up, but his left leg buckled when he tried to put weight on it. They ran over to catch him from falling, they both held him on their shoulder and carried him over towards a tree and sat him down gently against it's trunk. Blood was visible soaking through his shorts, and a single hole was at the center of the stain.

"He shot you in the leg, but there isn't much blood, so it not life threatening." Ellie said as she began to roll up the pant leg, Blaine grabbed her arm frantically.

"I'm fine." He said as he let go, he tried once again to stand, but the wound in his thigh kept him down.

"I said it wasn't life threatening, but that doesn't mean you don't need medical attention. Are you sick? I don't know many people who throw up whenever they get shot." Ellie said as she slid up the pant leg to his hip, Blaine didn't stop her this time. She exposed his entire thigh, but found that there was already a bandage in place. She looked up to Blaine and explained that the Bandage would have to be removed.

"Fine, go ahead. It's just that... I've never killed another person before, only infected and animals" was Blaine's only answer. Jessie ran over and grabbed Blaine's bag to bring back over to Ellie. She raised an eyebrow at Blaines explanation for his nausea, but she remembered how she felt when she first had to kill.

"He has a bunch of medical stuff in his bag." Jessie said, as he pulled out another roll of bandages, and a steel flask. Ellie began to unravel the bandage wrapped around his thigh. She saw the initial wound where the bullet went in, but something else caught her attention. Right under the bullet wound was a bite mark, not unlike her own. It had the first signs of an infected bite. Ellie stood up and backed away quickly, she gripped the knife in her pocket, and shouted at Blaine demanding answers.

"What the hell is that!" Ellie shouted at him pointing at the bite mark that scarred his leg.

"I said I was fine, but you had to try and help me." Blaine said back to her, still not looking in her direction.

"How long. when did you get bit?" She shouted back. She couldn't tell what she was more afraid of, that Blaine could turn, and kill both her and Jessie, or that she might have to deal with a situation like Sam and Henry's all over again.

Blaine was silent for a couple of seconds, she was ready to kill him if necessary, he could tell that the only way out was to tell the truth. "... ten years ago." Blaine muttered.  
Ellie was confused, 'did he say ten years?' she thought to herself, there was no way, she was the only person who was immune to the fungus.

"What did you say?" Ellie asked, Blaine could see the confusion on her face from the corner of his eye.

"I said ten years. I got bit ten years ago." Blaine replied with annoyance. He had not intended for the girl to find out his secret, at least not this early. The only people that knew of Blaines secret were Jessie, and Craig. No one else in the camp were to ever find out, Craig made sure that Blaine and Jessie were careful about this..

"So... you're immune?" Ellie asked, still shocked by the fact that someone other than herself had an immunity. She glanced towards Jessie, to see if he could confirm or deny Blaines claim, all she got was the boy trying his hardest not to make eye contact with her.

"I guess that's what I'm saying." Blaine said, he couldn't care less if the entire world knew about his immunity, no one that he knew of was still looking for a cure, so he figured he had no reason to hide or preach his immunity to the world. If anything, his 'ailment' made it just a little easier to survive in the wild, he never had to worry about spores, or getting bit by an infected (though it was still painful, so he tried not to push his luck).

"Though that doesn't mean I'm not contagious, so you might want to make sure you don't have any cuts on your hand before you go playing doctor on my leg." Blaine tried to lighten the mood, while giving Ellie the go-ahead to continue patching up his leg. Ellie knelt back down, and used the discarded bandage to wipe the remaining blood from his leg, still entranced by the bite mark that decorated his thigh. She grabbed the flask and twisted off the cap, and smelled it's contents, the alcohol burned her nostrils as she quickly moved the flask away from her face.

"Is that... whisky?" She asked, confused as to why he would keep it with medical supplies

"Yeah, it's not for what you think. It's good for cleaning wounds when you don't have anything else. Also, if you drink enough you'll forget why you're hurting in the first place." Blaine explained, both he and Jessie were guilty of sneaking a couple sips from the flask. It made sense, the alcohol content was high enough. She poured the liquid onto his wound, and held the used bandage over the bullet hole. Blaine clenched his teeth and inhaled a sharp breath as the whiskey burned the wound. Ellie then began wrapping the new bandage around his thigh, though it would still require more attention when they got to the camp, the little aid she gave it would do for now. Blaine rolled down his pant leg, and slowly stood up leaning against the tree. He stood still for a second, still keeping his weight off his damaged leg. He looked back and forth between Jessie and Ellie, both looking back at him silently.

"Well, are either of you going to help me walk back to the camp?" Blaine exclaimed, Jessie mumbled a 'sorry', as he rushed to Blaine's side and put his friends arm over his shoulder. Ellie scooped up Blaine's bag, and followed the two boys as they headed off on their way back to the camp. Jessie and Blaine talked about what had happened leading up to the death of the two bandits, and how Jessie got caught in the arms of his attacker. Ellie followed slowly behind, feeling the bite mark that scarred her own arm. "What does it matter?" she said to herself, "It's not like there's still a chance for a cure." she remembered what Joel told her about the fireflies, and how they were no longer searching for a cure. However, Joel said that there were dozens of others who were immune to the cordyceps, but Blaine had to be the first person she had met. Ellie was bitten at the age of 14 which was 2 years ago, if Blaine was bitten 10 years ago he had to have been 7 or 8, and the fact that a child of that age was even around infected was strange. She felt her own scar through her sleeve, she still remembered the night she and her best friend were bitten, and subsequently the death of her friend. Blaine's life must have been much harder to be bitten at such a young age. Ellie dispelled the thoughts, she figured that Blaine's life was not hers to judge.

They approached the camp, and Blaine shouted up to whoever was guarding the front gate today. They tried to give him the usual protocol, but upon seeing Blaine's condition, they opened the gate without question. They entered the camp, and passersby gave a single concerned look, but went about their day. Seeing an injured person was not an unusual sight for the people.

"Jessie, take the meat, and bring it to Jonathan so he can preserve it." Blaine instructed as he removed the meat satchel from his shoulder. He balanced most of his weight on his good leg, and gave the bag to Jessie, who looked concerned as to what Blaine would do about his leg, but ran off to finish their job anyways.

"You think you can help me to Craigs cabin?" Blaine asked as he turned to Ellie, she looked at him, it's not that she didn't want to help him, but she felt awkward about having someone whom she had just met yesterday leaning on her, and being so close to her, getting close to people was not something she did often. Still, leaving him to hop to Craig's cabin would be outright neglectful, so she obliged.

"Sure, no problem." She answered as she moved closer to Blaine and put his arm over her shoulders. He was heavier than she expected, his hoodie must have been doing a good job hiding most of his mass, but she was able to endure. She felt his leg falter with every other step as they made their way down the dirt path to Craig's cabin. Blaine tried his best not to lean on the girl who still made his chest feel heavy. Ellie glanced up at Blaine's face making sure he wasn't in any pain, she caught a glimpse of his eyes also facing her way, but they darted away, when they met. Blaine adjusted his scarf, bringing it higher on his face. Ellie raised an eyebrow at Blaine, but looked ahead and kept walking.

Ellie helped Blaine up the steps to the cabin door. Blaine knocked twice, but reached for the door and opened it himself. The cabin was empty, but the lights were still on, so Craig had to have left recently. "Just set me down in that chair right there" Blaine said, Ellie nodded and helped him sit slowly in the chair. He sunk deep into the chair, letting out a deep breath, feeling relaxed after the long walk back, and on one leg at that.

"Craig should be back any minute now, his tea is still hot," Blaine said with closed eyes, as he pointed to the still steaming mug that sat on the metal desk against the wall. He kept his eyes closed as he felt himself slowly drifting off into sleep.

"Should I stay here with you until he get's back?" Ellie asked as she stood near the door, not sure of what to do with herself.

"You don't have to, but I'll probably be passed out by the time he get's back, and won't be able to tell him what happened" Blaine explained, every time he was jolted awake he felt a tinge of annoyance, but sinking back into the chair cleared his mind right up.

"Right..." Ellie said as she leaned back against the wall, she blew air between her lips from boredom and surveyed her surroundings. It was a single room that was somewhat cluttered with various cabinets. One end was a large bed, no doubt belonging to Craig, and opposite was the desk which held piles of papers, and books with a single area cleared out in the center. At first glance it looked messy, but it was obvious that everything was in their designated place. She approached the desk, trying not to disturb Blaine as he rested in the chair, and examined the books that stood side-by-side at the far end of the desk. She saw the names of authors that she had heard about or read, like Stephen King, and Mark Twain, but some were names she had never heard. One in particular caught her eye, she picked it up and made out the Title under the years of wear and tear

"The Divine Comedy, by Dante Ali-...Alige-..." she struggled with the last name of the strange author, and decided to just open the book to a random page. "Thence is it that we speak, and thence we laugh; Thence is it that we form the tears and sighs, That on the mountain thou mayhap hast heard" she raised a brow at the way the author spoke, she found it difficult to read on and closed the book to put it back in it's original spot. Before she could reach for another she heard the door to the cabin open. She spun around to see Craig walk into the cabin, with Joel behind him. Craig looked at the girl standing at his desk, and then saw the unconscious Blaine sitting in his chair with his feed on the desk.

"What's wrong?" Craig asked Ellie, she looked at Blaine hoping that he would have answered for her, but seeing that he was still asleep she began to explain all that had happened in the forest.

"I went with Blaine and Jessie when they went out hunting. when we found a buck, i shot it, and Blaine went down to skin it. While he was down there these two guys came up behind me and Jessie and grabbed us, I stabbed the guy that grabbed me, but the other had a gun pointed at Jessie's head, he didn't know what to do and he was all shaking and scared, then I saw Blaine come up behind the dude, but he stepped on something and the guy turned around really fast and shot Blaine in the leg, but he still jumped on the guy and stabbed the hell out of him with his knife and-" Ellie was cut off from her long winded explanation by Craig.

"Which leg was he shot in?" Craig asked, he walked towards Blaine kneeling down and feeling his forehead for a fever.

"The left one..." Ellie said, Craig froze in place, thinking to himself for a second.

"I take it, you were the one to put a bandage on?" Craig asked the girl, he wasn't sure if Blaine would have let her see his scar, but if he did, Blaine would have some explaining to do.

"Yeah." Ellie sounded confused by the question, it wasn't till after Craig went back to examining Blaine that she remembered the scar on his leg.

Blaine's dream was mix of random places and people, and different events that had happened in the day. The most memorable part was when he killed the bandit that had taken Jessie hostage, only to find out that he had already killed both Ellie and Jessie, though this was the only one to have any direct relation to the event. Now he was walking through the camp at night, alone. He couldn't see anyone in sight, and all the campfires and lanterns that usually sat around were snuffed out. A searing pain shot up his leg, one so hot that it shook him right out of his dream.

Blaine jolted awake, as Craig poured the alcohol over his exposed leg. He looked around the room and saw that it was only him and Craig.

"You're lucky, the bullet went right through. nothing important was damaged either." Craig spoke, as he poured another liquid onto a two gauze pads. He then placed them over both the entry and exit wound on his legs, and wrapped them with bandage. The liquid stung for a second but quickly subsided. Blaine looked out the window, and saw that the sun was getting ready to set, he had been out for only a couple of hours.

Craig stood up, and leaned against the wall next to Blaine, eyeing him. Blaine glanced up every so often to see Craig staring him down. After a minute of uncomfortable silence Blaine spoke up.

"Are you planning on saying something?" it was clear that Blaine already knew what Craig had on his mind. Craig remained in place, but also spoke.

"The girl found out about your bite?" He asked, Blaine let out a sigh, just as he thought, Craig's daily reminder about keeping his bites secret was etched into Blaine's brain by now.

"Yeah, I don't see what the problem is" Blaine said, his unenthusiastic reply got on Craigs nerves.

"The problem is not everyone out there is going to be as understanding as most. What's the first thing I told you to do if you see someone who's infected?"

Blaine could already tell where the overbearing man was going with his question, still, Blaine answered anyways. "You get as far away from them as possible."

"Right, and if they're too far along?" Craig continued with his lesson, hoping that the boy would at least see some reason behind his wishes for Blaine to be more careful.

"You kill them." the short answer that Blaine gave, did make him think about how liberal he had been with his scar. If Ellie had been just a little more boisterous, he could very well be sitting in the forest with a bullet in his skull.

"And how many more people out there do you think are taught to shoot on sight?" Craig's final question was met with defeated silence by Blaine, who simply sat and nodded his head. He stood up to test the strength of his leg now that it was properly patched up. It was still sore, and standing on it didn't really soothe the pain, it was a lot easier to walk. "I'm gonna go to bed." Blaine said as he headed to the door.

"Just try to be more careful from now on." Craig felt like a broken record, having to repeat his teachings constantly to the two boys.

* * *

**I hope this updated chapter is an improvement than what it was originally. I enjoy writing in more medieval fantasy settings, so I've gotten accustomed to writing dialogue differently. I'll try to be more on point with my updates and new chapters. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Story isn't dead, and neither am I, sorry for hiatus. I still don't own The Last of Us.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Blaine woke up with vigor that had eluded him the day prior. He was glad that the usual nightmares or unusual dreams didn't hold him from a restful sleep, and with a total of 10 hours, restful sleep it was. Being an 'off day' for Blaine, he felt more upbeat and ready to go about the day. He got out of bed, dressed only in his boxers, and the clean bandages that wrapped his leg. He walked to the dresser and which held the few wearable clothes he had, He was glad to notice the lack of pain from his leg. He put on his casual wear which consisted of a tattered grey thermal, and a pair of faded jeans riddled with cuts and tears, though worrying about vanity was something Blaine never bothered himself with. He looked towards the window, and saw that most of the people were already going about their day, and the weather looked pleasant enough to sit back and relax. He slipped on his sneakers and headed to the door. He stepped out from his cabin. and saw a crowd had formed near the front gate, curiosity had gotten the better of him and he walked over to investigate. Not two seconds after he spotted the crowd, Craig zipped past Blaine in a hurried strut. The large man pushed and shoved his way to the center. Blaine quickened his pace, knowing that it must have been something important for Craig to be in a rush, though squeezing through the people was an easier task for Craig than for Blaine.  
After ducking and weaving through the many people that had also been lured by the commotion Blaine made it to the center and saw what had been so Important.

"...out taking some working parts off of the cars in the city, when I got hit with a brick from behind. When I came too we were tied up in their camp."

The man had obviously been through hell, his face was bruised and his left eye was swollen shut, and a few streaks of blood could be seen running down his face from his scalp. He was panting while explaining what had happened to Craig.

"They were going on and on about how someone had killed most of their men…. they think it was someone from our camp." The man was taking deep breathes, savoring the feeling of being able to breathe again. He had ran, ran all the way from the city to the camp, half beaten at that. Blaine recounted what he had heard in the city two days ago. How Joel and Ellie had been massacring the Hunters. Blaine was about to inch away from the crown when he heard the final part to the beaten man's ordeal.

"They killed Cody, put a bullet right in his head….." He heard the man's voice crack, no doubt he was forced to watch his partners unfortunate demise. "Just when I thought I was done for, they cut my bindings, and told me to bring a message." The man stopped, Craig was lost in thought, the lack of casualties in the camp made any death a big deal, but to be outright tortured and murdered, it made Craig sick. "What was the message" Craig spoke up.

"They uh…. they said they're coming to return their sheep to the flock. Do you know what they mean?" The man was confused by the message they sent with him. Craig was still, something had went off in his mind that frightened him, no doubt caused by the message.

"Unfortunately, I do." Was all Craig said before he turned on his heel to quickly walk away. He caught Blaine out the corner of his eye, and motioned for him to follow. Blaine was just as confused as the man who had originally brought the message,

"Get some rest, you're gonna need it." Craig shouted back to the beaten man, without breaking stride, Blaine followed close behind the colossus of a man, no indication of his emotion could be found, and this worried Blaine. The crowd began to dissipate as the people went to finish whatever they had started before the commotion had gotten their attention, light murmurs of the message the man delivered could be heard through the camp as Blaine and Craig walked to Craig's cabin. Jessie, who was dressed to go to the city to get supplies came running towards the two.

"Hey guys, is something going on?" Jessie had asked, obvious that he was ignorant of the current situation, though Blaine was still no better off.

"Something is definitely going on." Craig assured. "No need to go into the city, I want this camp under lockdown for the time being, Tell whoever is manning the tower to not let any scavengers or hunters out of the walls. After that, go round up our newest guest and bring them to my cabin." Craig's orders were almost military in their delivery. Blaine had never seen the man so serious about anything unless the lives of him or Jessie were at risk. Jessie gave no reply before running off to do as he was told, He too, could see that something had put Craig on edge. Craig stood still for a second, and gave an exasperated sigh. "Why now?" Blaine heard Craig whisper to himself, before he continued towards the cabin.

Blaine was currently sitting on Craigs bed, as Craig himself was sitting at his desk going through various drawers that he had unlocked. Blaine had never even seen Craig go through the drawers, so he was curious about what had happened to make Craig open them now.

"What's Going on" Blaine asked from across the room, annoyed by the silence the Craig had answered all his previous questions with, once again was met with the still air, and the sound of rummaging through the unseen contents of the desk drawer. Blaine was about to walk over to take a peek at what Craig was focusing on, but before he could even get up, the door to the cabin opened and Jessie strolled in, his forehead shining with sweat, and panting.

"They're here" Jessie said, as he ungracefully walked towards the bed to collapse. Joel walked in only a few seconds after Jessie, and Ellie followed right behind him. Craig only glanced at the two as they walked in, but quickly turned back to the drawer. He only spoke.

"I'm going to assume that it was you and your daughters doing that brought the ire of our friends in the city?" Craig said in a monotone voice, Blaine couldn't tell yet if Craig was angry, his voice gave no indication, though Blaine wouldn't doubt that Craig felt some animosity towards Joel, It was him and Ellie that had killed most of the hunters in the city.

"I ain't never kill anyone out there that didn't deserve it." Joel answered defensively. Joel was many things, but a cold blooded murderer was not one of them, and as far as he was concerned, anyone he did kill, DID deserve it. Ellie raised a brow at the exchange between both men, Craig stopped what he was doing, and closed the drawer.

"I don't blame you for what happened out there. I blame myself for showing too much hospitality." The words, though lacking in emotion, were oddly cold for the usually happy man, Blaine stood up, and walked towards the two. "What is going on?" Blaine asked as sternly as possible.

Craig looked at the boy, his eyes also stern, though they softened before he looked away. "Gather your things. You're leaving." Craig said, looking at the ground.

Joel was about to speak up, and try to reason with Craig, but Blaine was fast to open his mouth. "You're just going to kick them out? For defending themselves? Who cares if some hunters die. They're nothing but-"

"That's enough." Craig spoke, quickly stopping Blaine from finishing his rant. "I wasn't talking to them… I was talking to you, Blaine" Craig continued, Blaines eyes were quick to show the shock that was going through his mind.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Blaine stuttered out, his usual confidence was absent from his tone, and was instead replaced with uncertainty and fear.

"I mean, it's not safe for you to be here, You have to go." Craig said as he looked the boy in his eyes. Blaine didn't move, instead casted his eyes towards the floor, going over the words he had just heard.

Craig looked back towards Joel with a stern gaze. "I don't wish to use guilt to get my way… but seeing as how it's your doing that we're in this mess, I must insist that you return to your own home… along with Blaine." Blaine shot his eyes towards Craig, who still had his stone gaze aimed at Joel. Blaine's heart picked up pace, as his stomach began still couldn't believe it, Craig was actually sending him away, for something that still wasn't clear to him. What could that cryptic message hold that would scare Craig into sending away his son? Joel's face conveyed his apprehension.

"I don't think I can do that." Joel replied, he was sure his people smuggling days were over, and to do so, simply because he felt he owed someone, was a foolish notion.

"Then how about this, you get Blaine safely to your camp, and I'll make sure that you get the parts you need to restore that dam of yours. Just get him there, and I can guarantee you'll have all the supplies you need." Craig spoke with as much passion as he could, it didn't matter what he needed to do to get Blaine to safety, nothing was too far. As long as it meant his son would be safe, he was prepared to do anything. "I'm even prepared to set up permanent trading routes between our camps if needed." Craig added, he knew that it would be difficult to hold all the promises he was making, but it was all worth it.

Joel contemplated Craigs offer, looking for any a sign of Craig's falter in his stand, to see that the man was not willing to risk so much to see the boy to safety, the small chance that he knew that he could possibly fail his end of the bargain. When nothing was seen to prove that Craig was bluffing, Joel spoke.

"Even if I do manage to get him to our camp, how do I know that you're not just going to fail, or turn your back on our deal at the last minute"

"... You're right, I can't prove to you that I won't fail, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let anything jeopardize the life of my children" Craig said, he gave a glance towards Ellie. Joel did know, and maybe it was that small part of his mind that wouldn't let him say no.

Joel gave a sigh, and spoke up "Alright, i'll do it.". Craig was obviously relieved as he let his shoulders relax, as he exhaled the breath he was holding to hear Joel's answer.

Blane was shaken out of his stupor for the moment to further question the man who was sending him off. "Why only me? Why is it still safe for Jessie to stay?"

Craig didn't quite know how to explain it to Blaine, and being as vague as possible was the best option for now. "Your situation is different from his, you're in the most danger as of now. That's why I'm making it a priority for you to leave as soon as possible."

Blaine found no more will to argue or prod for answers, he decided to simply be quiet and do what craig thought was best.

Craig once again turned towards Joel to get the rest of the details ironed out. "I want for your group to be out of the camp as soon as possible, and on the other side of the city by nightfall. It would be best for you to go around due to the bandits, but the area is riddled with infected, so it's up to your discretion on how you get there." Joel simply nodded, still contemplated if he was going to be able to do this. It wasn't that he doubted the boys survival skills, surely he had to be experienced enough to be trusted with the jobs he's been handling at the camp, maybe it was just him feeling uneasy with another person trusting a kid with him, Ellie and him didn't exactly make it through their journey unscaved.

It was Joel's turn to speak up, he ordered Blaine to pack up and get ready for their departure, Blaine complied, albeit silently. He stood and trudged towards the exit, dragging his feet unconsciously, he didn't want anyone's pity, but he couldn't hide the fact that the news had brought his mood down a little.. Ellie was able to catch a glimpse of his somber look as he slipped past her to the door. His eyes were dull, and focused on nothing in particular, surely his mind was too busy processing what was going through his head for him to be fully aware of where he was going. Ellie sympathised with Blaine, she knew what it felt like to have to leave everything behind, though Blaine had it much harder, the safety of the camp and a friendly community was all he knew.

"Ellie, you go get your stuff together." Joel said to the girl, who only barely heard the request, with her mind elsewhere. She gave a simple okay, and exited the cabin a few steps behind Blaine, she considered walking ahead to talk to Blaine, though she doubted that he would give any reply, so she kept her distance as the boy picked up his pace towards his cabin. Ellie's path soon diverged from Blaine's as she began to walk towards her own cabin, she didn't really have much with her when they arrived, though the amount of supplies that the denizens of the camp had supplied her and Joel would be useful for the road.

Back at the Cabin, Jessie was also awestruck at the revelation that he had just overheard. He was going to be split up from his brother, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized the amount of time the two were together, the always did their jobs together, hunted together, ate together. The thought of not being able to look to Blaine for the small guidance he had given him through the years, or the security he felt when he knew Blaine was watching his back scared him. He had gone on jobs with others at the camp on the odd days where Blaine was sick or injured, and it's not that he didn't trust them, it's just that he trusted Blaine the most.

"Jessie"

He wasn't sure if he would be able to most of the jobs without his brother at his side. Blaine had taught him almost everything he knew, but there were still times where Blaine had to take over the rifle because he had missed too many shots, or where Blaine had to go over a room for supplies because Jessie had overlooked a few.

"Jessie!" was all he heard when he was shaken out of his stupor. "huh?" was all he could reply with

"Tell everyone in the camp to pack up and get ready to depart tomorrow. Only carry what we need and what will sustain us." Craig said to the boy. Jessie was snapped back to reality by craigs words. "Alright." Jessie said as he hopped off the bed, and walked to the door with a brisk pace.

* * *

Jessie stood in the middle of his room, how can he be expected to just pack up his stuff and go. It soon hit him that he wasn't going to be able to take everything with him, maybe a change of clothes, but that would only leave him with barely enough room to hold a sleeping bag, or food. He walked around his room, going over the small mementos he had collected over time, several rusted pocket knives he had collected throughout the city, the small pair of antlers from his first kill while hunting. He would have loved to take all this stuff with him, though he knew that it would only be a burden on the group, so he tossed his hoodie, and a pair of cargo shorts into the bag, along with his sleeping bag, rolled as tight as he could get it to save space. He put his holster around his waist, and placed his gun snugly inside. He went over his room a last time to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything, and saw his bow leaning against the wall in it's designated spot. Did he need it? Joel had a rifle so he didn't really need anything long range, and a gun would be a better choice for self defense. "Whatever" Blaine thought, he picked up the bow, and slid the loop of his bag off his shoulder, and put his head and arm through the twine of the bow, making the wood hug his back, he slid his arm back through the shoulder strap, and walked towards the door but stopped just before his hand met the knob, he turned around quickly and jogged the small distance to his dresser. He opened the bottom drawer and pulled out the the red scarf he always wore when he left the camp. He draped it around his neck and was finally able to leave his room.

Elle had packed everything she had brought with them in her bag, and was already halfway to the cabin that the news was broken to everyone. She saw Joel turn the bend, walking back from the cabin. She slowed her pace, waiting for Joel to get within talking distance to her.

"You ready?" Joel asked her without stopping, she half expected him to at least slow down, but he kept his speed and walked right past her.

"Uhh… Yeah, I got everything I need." she said jogging back towards Joel to stay by his side.

"Alright, I just gotta throw a few things in my bag then we can leave."

Ellie noticed a small parcel in Joel's hand and her curiosity peaked.

"What's in the box?" Ellie asked,

"Nothing, just some little information on the kid from a quarantine zone. Name and medical information… stuff like that." Joel said looking at the box himself. He wondered what importance this information had to him, Craig told him to give it to Blaine when they left. It was something that must have had a deeper importance to the kid than anyone else.

They walked back to the rotunda of cabins and saw people bustling around gathering supplies from each other, it seemed that Jessie had broken the news to everyone, but not everyone looked as if they were happy to hear it. They saw Blaine standing by the front gate, kicking around the dirt at his feet.

"Go wait with him, I'll be right back." Joel told Ellie, she nodded and walked over towards the gate to join Blaine.

Blaine didn't lift his head from the ground, but felt the presence of someone approaching him, the person leaned against the gate next to him.

"How are you feeling." Ellie asked, Blaine kept his head down, and kicked the dirt from his shoe.

"Sick." was Blaine's only answer, but it was the truth, his stomach was in knots and every so often he would feel wave of nausea would overcome him, though nothing ever came up.

"I'm sorry… about what you're going through." She said after a few seconds of silence, trying to show her empathy.

"It's fine." Blaine kept his answers short, afraid that if he talked too much that he might accidentally empty his stomach, though he knew well that it wasn't fine. How could he? He was leaving his home, and would probably never return, or if he did, everyone else would have moved on by then. This was as good as going away forever.

Ellie took his short answers as a hint to stop prodding him, so she did. She heard hurried footsteps approaching and saw Jessie jogging towards them. He stopped in front of Blaine waiting for him to acknowledge his presence. Blaine slowly lifted his head to look at Jessie. Jessie stood for a second going over his brothers face, it was obvious he was hiding his emotions, but Jessie didn't think much of it, showing his emotions was not something Blaine was very good at.

"Uhh.. I guess this is goodbye?" Jessie asked, he too had not completely come to terms with what was happening. They day had started just like any other, who knew that it would have taken the turn it did?

"I guess it is." Blaine said as he saw Joel approaching from behind Jessie, his own bag slung over his shoulder.

"You ready?" Joel said, he stopped in front of the gate, looking at the group of teens who were still standing around waiting for guidance.

Jessie fidgeted awkwardly for a few seconds, he wanted to say something, anything, but he felt awkward telling his brother that he was going to miss him. Caught up in his didn't notice the arm wrapped around his neck, with another over his arm holding his back. Blaine was hugging him, probably the last thing Jessie had expected to happen. He didn't have much room to move, but was able to wrap his own arm around Blaine's torso.

Blaine released his hold, and turned away from Jessie "See ya'" was all Jessie heard from Blaine as he walked away with Ellie. They got to the gate, as it began to open. Jessie was still in his original position, watching as the gate slowly rose, soon being wide enough for them to exit. He had things that he still needed to do, but wanted to at least see his brother off. Joel walked through the gate first, with Ellie only a few steps behind him. Blaine stood for a second, some part of him still fighting to stay behind, no matter how fruitless it seemed, he knew he had to leave, but he began to feel grateful of every second he spent in the camp since he learned the news. Knowing that he was only stalling the group on their journey, he began to walk forward. As he crossed the gate he felt a tug on his heart, something he'd never experienced, he had felt sadness before, but never like this. The further he got from the camp he more he felt his mask falter, before he knew it, his eyes began to water, and soon the tears were streaming down his cheek, he squeezed his eyes closed, flushing them of tears, and then wiped them off with his sleeve. Ellie looked back and saw him covering his eyes with his arm, and knew exactly what he was feeling. The pitiful sight that he was, made her feel sorry for him, though she didn't want to make him feel embarrassed by confronting him about it.

Joel glanced back and also saw the crying boy, and then remembered the box that was given to him by Craig. He slowed down and waited for Blaine to catch up to him. Blaine was still hiding his eyes, but jumped when he felt a hand placed on his shoulder.

"Craig… wanted you to have this." Joel said, at least some sympathy showing through the tone of his voice. He pulled the box from a compartment on his bag and handed it to Blaine, and returned to his earlier pace. Blaine examined the outside of the box, he wanted to open it, he knew that craig might have put something important in the box, but he wasn't sure he was quite ready to see it's contents, still crying from simply leaving the camp, so he placed it in his own bag, he'll get to it, and hopefully it won't start any waterworks like his earlier experience did.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, and I hope you no longer have to enjoy my long absences. **


End file.
